


Hating Rainbow

by dorkyduckling



Category: Callisto 6 (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Hanahaki Disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 17:20:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19772878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkyduckling/pseuds/dorkyduckling
Summary: Luma Orsini loves with her entire heart and her entire being. When she falls, she falls hard and there’s nothing to catch her but a pile of flowers, bile, and blood. She may be a superhero but this superhero's greatest weakness is love.





	Hating Rainbow

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy y'all, I'm sticking my toe in the water here in the Callisto 6 fandom! This fic will have a sequel but it will be with Hopps as my OT3 is Hopps/Luma/Cass. That being said this one stands alone just fine :) I plan on writing other things for the fandom but this is a start. (P.S if you read my other stuff I swear I'm working on it).   
> Thanks to Gilly for betaing this for me.   
> Hanahaki Disease: The Hanahaki Disease is an illness born from unrequited love, where the patient’s throat will fill up with flower, they will then proceed to throw, and cough up the petals, (sometimes even the flowers). One of the only ways for the disease to ‘disappear’ is if, the said person returns the feeling (it can’t be resolved with friendship, it has to be genuine feelings of love). The infection can also be removed through surgery, though the feelings and memories of the person disappear along with the petals. If they choose nether options, or the feeling is not returned in time, then the patient’s lungs will fill up with flowers, and will eventually suffocate. 
> 
> TW: Blood, vomiting, the usual of Hanahaki Disease

Luma Orsini loves with her entire heart and her entire being. When she falls, she falls hard and there’s nothing to catch her but a pile of flowers, bile, and blood. She may be a superhero but this superhero's greatest weakness is love. 

It starts late at night, the moonlight barely breaking through the dark water outside of Blue Dolphin Base. Luma wakes with an innocuous tickle in her throat. She doesn’t think much of it as she coughs, standing up and padding to the kitchen for some water. The water doesn’t seem to help, and it feels like something’s caught in her throat. Luma tries to muffle her coughs as she hacks up something soft and velvety into her hand.

A flower petal. 

It’s a darker pink color that reminds her of the color of Cass' glasses. Her confusion is momentarily silenced by amusement and fondness. 

"Luma?" Sal's voice says and he comes thumping into the kitchen, head cocked. 

"Hi Sal, just getting a glass of water." Luma smiles at him. He points to the flower petal in her hand. 

"Flower?"

"Yeah, not sure where it came from." Luma nods, tucking it carefully in her pocket. Maybe she'd accidentally swallowed it at the farmer's market and it got caught. It’s weird but she doesn’t think much about it. "Go back to bed, that’s what I’m going to do." She waves at him and shuffles back to her room. 

An hour later she wakes up coughing again, several flower petals filling her mouth. They’re a multitude of colors this time. There’s almost a rainbow painting her hand before she sets them on her nightstand. Maybe she can press them in the morning. Luma's still not sure where they came from but wonders if it’s part of Callisto 6. 

Three months of coughing up flower petals, an entire flower in her bathroom sink, and two hours searching the internet later, Luma has an answer. Her heart sinks and her stomach drops. Tears blur her vision as her hand clutches the colorful flower. 

A gladiolus.

_ "Why do you have gladiolus petals all over your room?" Lacy had asked, taking in the petals Luma had pressed and made into strings.  _

_ "Is that what they are?" Luma replied. "I didn’t know what kind of flower they were. I just thought the petals were pretty."  _

_ "Yeah, in flower language they mean strength and conviction! They come in lots of colors." Lacy smiled. "They kind of look like Cass' hair."  _

_ "Yeah, they do." Luma giggled, smiling back with as much sincerity she could muster. She was so glad Lacy wasn’t asking again where they came from. Lying to Lacy was something she didn’t think she could handle.  _

She was miserable. 

Her chest hurt and all she could taste was the flower petals. She had to brush her teeth for 20 minutes to get the petal stains off, and no matter how much she flossed it seemed she always had petals stuck in her teeth. 

Luma stopped smiling as much. Between the upkeep from the flowers and how much discomfort she’s always in it’s just not worth it. When she does smile it’s always close-lipped. 

After three months, just the petals have turned into full flowers that come up regularly. She’s gotten really good at hiding it, even though when she shapeshifts she still suffers. Flowers crawl their way up her throat no matter what form she takes. The words she wants to say to her friends die on her tongue any time she tries. 

She’s certain Cass is not interested in her and as much as she wishes she was, Luma has to face reality. What kind of friend would she be to put all that on Cass' shoulders? The team has enough to deal with without Luma adding to it. Might as well suffer in silence and hope it doesn’t get worse. 

Six months and Luma is vomiting more than coughing. She has to keep a trash can by her bed at night. It’s a mixture of flowers, petals, stems, and leaves that hurt her chest and her throat. 

_ Her mom caught her bent over the toilet one night, vomiting flowers and crying. She started cursing everything while holding Luma's hair and rubbing soothing circles into her back.  _

_ "No one is worth this." Her mom sighed, as Luma tried to breathe between sobs.  _

_ "She is," Luma replied back without any hesitation. Her mom closed her eyes and muttered under her breath.  _

_ "I always knew your big heart would get the best of you." _

Honestly keeping it from Lacy as long as she does is a miracle. Luma has gotten really good at excuses. She specifically added more pockets to her clothes in order to hide petals and she makes a show of suddenly being into flower collecting. 

It makes her sick having them in her room.

_ Another late night at Blue Dolphin and Luma was once again in the bathroom. Her arms were enclosed around cool porcelain. She still couldn’t help but cry at how much it always sucked.  _

_ "Luma? Are you okay?" Lacy knocked lightly on the door. Luma tried to respond but just ended up retching instead. The door swung open revealing a concerned Lacy. "What’s wrong? Are you sick?" They rolled in and their eyes widened at the mess of gladiolus everywhere and Luma throwing them up.  _

_ "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you." Luma whimpered, sucking in deep breaths. In a flash, Lacy was on the ground next to her, holding Luma in their arms.  _

_ "We can fix this. I’ll figure out how to fix this." Lacy assured her, their own tears wetting Luma's shoulder. At the moment, Luma didn’t have the heart to tell them there was no fixing it.  _

_ "I never thought I’d start hating rainbow," Luma admitted.  _

Nine months. She suffered another three months before things took a turn for the worse. The petals and flowers started coming up speckled in crimson and the perfume flavor was tinged with copper. 

She has to start fixing her lipstick more as she wipes away blood from her mouth. It’s a good thing her clothes are mostly black. If she thought the colored petals were bad, the blood is so much worse. With the blood comes difficulty breathing and she knows her days are numbered. 

Lacy drags her to Florence, who reads them the same list of treatments she found online. 

"Just tell her then!" Lacy frowns, face clearly distressed.

"I can’t put that on her, Lace. You know I can’t." Luma's smile is sad and tired. 

"You’re going to leave me." Lacy looks like they’re ready to cry and Luma pulls them in for a hug. 

"I’ll always be with you, but maybe just not literally. Besides, the team has your back." Luma assures them. "You’ve grown so strong. You can do this."

"I don’t want to, not without you." Lacy protests. Luma briefly considers having the flowers removed for Lacy. She’d do anything for her best friend. What kind of life would that be though? Forgetting Cass, forgetting their memories? She couldn’t do it. 

"I’m sorry, Lacy." 

Somehow the team never finds out. Luma tries to keep it hidden and somehow manages to succeed until the end. Lacy fusses and frets but it remains between the two of them. 

Then Luma collapses during one of their funnel cake runs. 

They’re all waiting on their order when her chest starts to seize. It feels like taking in air is almost impossible and she starts gagging. She rushes over to the nearest trash can and vomits. Her lungs are desperately trying to take in air as the world seems to get dark around the edges. 

"Luma!" Lacy's voice is frantic as they call for their friend. Luma's knees buckle and she hits the cold cement. Her hands struggle to keep her off the ground as she heaves, blood and gladiolus pool beneath her. 

"Holy shit, Luma." Cass barely manages to catch her before her arms give out. She’s desperate for air and her lips are spattered in blood. "What’s the matter? Lacy, what’s wrong with her?"

"Luma, please!" Lacy's voice sounds like they’re underwater. The world is fading around Luma and everything hurts. "Tell her, please! I’m begging you."

"Tell who what?" Anton's face is barely visible as he kneels next to the two. Cass has Luma cradled in her arms and she can’t help but smile a little; dream come true. She’d always wanted Cass to hold her like this. 

"Why are there flowers all over everywhere?!" Hopps sounds confused as hell. 

"It’s Hanahaki Disease." Oya's voice is knowing. "It’s when you have unrequited love. Flowers start growing in your lungs. If she’s this bad then it’s been happening for a while."

"Unrequited love? Who the hell do I need to beat up?!" Cass yells. Luma reaches up to brush rainbow locks from concerned eyes. 

"Leave it to you to make me love rainbow again." Luma gasps out just before the world goes dark. There’s a faint sound of yelling before everything just stops. 

When Luma wakes up her entire body hurts. Her chest feels like an elephant stomped on it over and over. A blurred face hovers above her as her eyelids flutter open. 

"Ow." Her voice is hoarse and her throat feels like it’s on fire. 

"You’re awake." The face speaks and Luma's vision begins to clear. 

Cass is hovering over her, blood smeared on the corner of her mouth and tears welling in her eyes.

"Cass, there’s blood on you." Luma frowns, her usual worrisome personality already in effect. Cass snorts and takes Luma's face between her hands. 

"You idiot! Your mouth is covered in blood. I had to kiss you to save you." Her hands are tight but in a comforting way. "Don’t hide things from us like that! You could have died because of me."

Everything comes rushing back all at once as she blinks up at Cass, disbelief clear in her eyes. 

"You kissed me? Why-?" Luma doesn’t get to finish as she’s being pulled into a deep kiss. Cass pulls away for a moment. 

"Because how could I not love sunshine." 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: dorkyduckling


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